Darts Scores

The eternal struggle with darts nerves

For all us darters, professionals, amateurs, competition players et all – we have all had those days when your darts won’t go where you want them to go….and you stand there throwing your darts, aiming the same way, throwing the same, keeping your head still and arm straight… and what happens you get a 41 score for your hard work.

Next throw and it’s 45, getting a bit better. Next throw you hit 26 and you can feel the sweat trickling down your forehead….

You are hot under the collar, feeling the pressure…You are wondering why your team mates are either too loud or alternatively too quiet…not focusing on the job in hand. Then you try to take a break and walk to the table and lift your cold refreshing drink…trying to gather yourself….”just one big treble” you say yourself and again you hit 41.

You walk back to the oche deflated, knowing you should be hitting the ton’s and 96’s and 140’s you hit in practice….and watching your opponent leisurely taking out his double, as if its too easy for him.

So you are one leg down against the darts…so you say let’s push on and start good…Again it’s 41 and you are starting to crumble thinking to yourself – why does it work in the practice room against all of your friends and team mates…but against your opponent it just doesn’t seem to work. In the end you give up on yourself and your opponent wins 4-0 and you are devastated.

So what is the answer – It’s not the opponent that is better than you, most times they are same as or not – the answer is that your opponent is handling the pressure better. Either by confidence, alcohol, slow play, fast play, tactics, barracking or whatever… You have to stop yourself putting yourself under too much pressure – just let the arrows go.

A lot of people would say have a few drinks to get you in the mood – I would be of the thinking that you don’t need alcohol – just the right mindset. Some people in this world when put under pressure cant handle it and some can – MVG learned to handle the pressure – he was always good, just didn’t get the luck in his early career, but when he learned to relax and be confident in his arrows the sky wasn’t even the limit for him.

So the moral of the story is stop listening to that little brain of yours and concentrate on the throw. If you throw the same way every time – in practice and in game, eventually you will get consistency. Remember Rome wasn’t built in day and its going to be a long road, but you’ll get there with dedication.

Comment (2)

Thanks so much for adding this article Johnny, I can really relate to this, I do tend to play better with a few beers as I relax, as you say its all in the mind, if you can overcome that without doubt you play better darts.

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